Winter’s End: Sapsucker Reflections 12×12,
Wonderful new possibilities for me . Last year at this time, I was filled with envy and longing when my friends who were full time artists were able to get out and paint as soon as the weather warmed up. They had that mellow smile that comes from sunshine and the total engagement of painting spring emerging from winter. They exclaimed about how beautiful the day was and asked me if I had gotten outside to paint. For the last 28 years I had to experience spring only on the weekends or through a window. Well –This year, the first day that it was warm enough to stand still outside, I took my oil paint out of hibernation and jumped at the opportunity to paint at Sapsucker woods . I have a lot to learn about the season. I was dismayed to realize that with no leaves out yet, the landscape was almost totally devoid of shade. To be able to see the colors clearly, I need shade for my canvas and palette. I had to find one of the few spots by the pond where I could fit under some conifers. I painted the sun shining on the water between two hummocks of last summer’s brown grass. It was a joy to have the familiar feel of the palette knife in my fingers again, and the comfortable feeling of the oil paint.
Forsythis, oil on canvas, 12×12
Another day, after working on a gray winter view of Taughannock gorge from reference photos, I glanced out the window and was amazed by the brilliance of my forsythia in full bloom. The yellow was enhanced by the muted colors of my neighbor’s house behind them. The rain streaming down the window panes gave a painterly quality to the whole scene. I dragged my easel over to the other side of the room (usually the sun streaming into that south window is not good light for painting, but the rainy day made it perfect) I grabbed a 12×12 canvas and pulled my oil paints out from the cupboard, found my studio palette but then was sidetracked by “something important to do”. It was one of those heart wrenching moments of absolute beauty that beckoned and then snickered. However, the next day, after finishing a whole day of “important things to do”, I snuck into the studio before anymore of those “important things” grabbed me by the back of the collar again. Since everything was set to go, I was quickly engaged in the most beautiful image of the season. It was such a joy to work with the oils again, my bosom buddies. Hand in hand we can glide together effortlessly. I was quickly able to get just the color I was after. The paint went smoothly on the canvas, the shapes were just what and where I wanted them. I could make the thinnest of lines and strokes with the edge of the palette knife. I was one with the paint and the image before me. I emerged from the studio with the euphoric feeling of spent energies that comes from that total engagement in the creative process and the forgetting of self.
